1991 Brazilian Grand Prix
|poletime =1:16.392 |fastestlap =1:20.346 |fastestlapdriver =Nigel Mansell |fastestlapnation =GBR |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber =35 |winner =Ayrton Senna |winnernation =BRA |winnerteam = |second =Riccardo Patrese |secondnation =ITA |secondteam = |third =Gerhard Berger |thirdnation =AUT |thirdteam = }} The was the second race of the 1991 Formula One Championship, held at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, Brazil.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: BRAZILIAN GP, 1991', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 1999), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr502.html, (Accessed 01/08/2015) The race represented the best chance for World Champion Ayrton Senna to win his home race, a feat he had not achieved so far in his Grand Prix career, his ultimate ambition.'Classic F1 - Brazilian Grand Prix 1991', bbc.co.uk, (British Broadcasting Company, 27/07/2011), http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9118867.stm, (Accessed 01/08/2015) Indeed, Senna was not to be denied in his eighth Brazilian Grand Prix, as both rain and gearbox problems failed to prevent his victory. Riccardo Patrese pushed his hard to take second, with the rain hindering rather than aiding his late assault on Senna, with Gerhard Berger also on the podium. Background The short break between the US and Brazilian Grand Prix in 1991 meant that little had changed for the 34 drivers on the grid, as several teams got to grips with their new tech. Williams announced that both of their cars, using a new semi-automatic gearbox, were struggling with issues caused by it, but also made it clear that they were on top of them. Regardless, all 34 cars had been shipped straight from Phoenix to Sao Paulo, with the same field set to battle for victory. There were no surprises in the Championship, as Ayrton Senna led Alain Prost by four points, courtesy of his victory in the US. Senna's compatriot, and legend, Nelson Piquet sat in third, while the two Tyrrell entries of Stefano Modena and Satoru Nakajima sat fourth and fifth. Last of the scorers in the US had been Aguri Suzuki for Larrousse F1. led the way in the Constructors Championship early on, with Senna's sole points enough for them to lead Ferrari. Tyrrell led Benetton by a solitary point, courtesy of their two point finishes to Benetton's podium, while (Larrousse) sat in fifth on one point. They had been the only constructors to score so far. Entry List The full entry list for the is shown below: Practice Overview Qualifying As in the US, the 34 entries would be split into two groups before qualifying, with the lowest eight from the previous six months competing in Pre-Qualifying. The best four from these eight would join the other 26 in the main qualifying session, as the FIA maintained their recent safety decision despite using an established racing circuit in Brazil. Pre-Qualifying It was a Jordan and Dallara lock out of the four qualifying places, as JJ Lehto, Andrea de Cesaris, Bertrand Gachot and Emanuele Pirro all made it through to the main session. Their quartet was over a second faster than the rest of the Pre-Qualifiers, as Eric van de Poele, Nicola Larini, Pedro Chaves and Olivier Grouillard were all dumped out of qualifying before it had even begun. Lehto and co continued in the full session a few hours later. Report It was a strong showing by the Brazilian bunch of drivers on the grid, with three of the four making into the top ten, although all of the attention was on Ayrton Senna. Once again on pole (for the fifth race in a row), Brazil's brightest star was over a second quicker than team mate Gerhard Berger in fourth, as the two s split the s.Alain Prost was out-qualified by new team mate Jean Alesi for the first time, the two Ferraris down in fifth and sixth, followed by a brace of Brazilians, Nelson Piquet and Mauricio Gugelmin. Once again, the pre-qualifiers punched above their percieved weight as both Jordans and Dallaras forced their way onto the grid. Gachot was best placed, slotting into tenth in only Jordan's second race, while team mate de Cesaris was locked with Pirro for twelfth and thirteenth (the latter ahead by mere thousandths of a second). Lehto was down in nineteenth, although he was safely ahead of the final four places, as Brabham suffered a scare, almost losing both cars. Ultimately, the two entries of Alex Caffi and Michele Alboreto were lost, as was the AGS of Stefan Johansson. Also out was Julian Bailey for Team Lotus, who was almost three seconds slower than rookiee team mate (who qualified in 22nd), suggesting that the young Finn had a bright future ahead, despite the struggling combination. Full Qualifying Result The full qualifying result for the is displayed below: Grid The starting grid for the may be seen below: Race There were no changes to the starting order after the warm up on Sunday, meaning all of the attention was on Ayrton Senna, as he tried to bring victory for Brazil by a Brazilian in Brazil for the first time since 1986. He was under potential threat from the fast starting s behind with their new gearboxes, but national pride was on the line. Report A perfect start by Senna saw him streak away at the head of the field as he had done two weeks earlier, as team mate Gerhard Berger tumbled after an engine issue. Riccardo Patrese and Nigel Mansell left the grid cleanly too, with the Brit seizing the initative into the first corner to take second, while Jean Alesi sneaked into fourth around the seemingly troubled Berger. Alain Prost, meanwhile, got caught behind Berger of the line, and so saw Nelson Piquet cruise past into the first corner, while Aguri Suzuki limped his point scoring off the track at turn two after a fuel pump failure. Prost and Piquet duelled until the Ferrari driver opted to pit for tyres on lap 22, while Senna continued to stroke out a lead, Mansell being his nearest challenger. The Brit pitted on lap 25 to try to gain an advantage on fresh rubber. but was hampered when his new gearbox refused to let him pull away, turning a six second tyre stop into a fourteen second torture session for the Englishman. Once back in the race, Mansell set about chasing down Senna, having to come through Alesi and Patrese first. Senna, Patrese and Alesi were all in in short order, leaving Mansell seven seconds behind the lead McLaren with 30 laps to go. He was steadily closing the gap too, with the home crowd sensing that their star Senna would be denied once again. cost the Brazilian some time as he was lapped on lap 42, although Mansell could not close the gap any further than he had done by that point, his tyres beginning to suffer. It was not long after that Mansell was out of the race too, suffering an almost identical problem to Patrese in the US, whereby his gearbox slammed the car into neutral and then into second, spinning him out of the race. By that stage, Senna's pace was beginning to tumble too, suffering from an as-yet undiagnosed gearbox issue, costing him fourth gear. That put Patrese in the prime position for victory, as his Williams remained unafflicted with the gearbox issues of two weeks before. He was taking two seconds a lap out of the Brazilian as the chequered flag neared, until the gods played their hand. Senna had already, and consistently, demonstrated his masterful control in wet conditions, and as the clouds broke over Interlagos, the gap stabilised over the final two laps. Gesturing to the race officials as he crossed the line to start the final lap, Senna still wanted the race to be called to a hault early, but did not get his wish. Regardless, he still had a three second advantage over Patrese as he completed the final lap, claiming his first Brazilian Grand Prix victory, a life time goal achieved for the motor racing legend. Patrese finished a frustrated second, a potential victory lost due to the late shower, while Berger leapfrogged Alesi in the pits to take third, despite a late struggle with a sticking throttle. Prost forced his way past Piquet at the stops to take fourth from the Brazilian legend, while Alesi was the last man on the lead lap in sixth. Other highlights from the finishers was the ninth place for Hakkinen in his second Grand Prix, eleventh for Emanuele Pirro in his pre-qualified , while Bertrand Gachot was classified as a finisher once again for Jordan, despite retiring eight laps from the end. Results The complete results from the are outlined below: Milestones Standings So Ayrton Senna had already built a lead larger than a race win over his nearest challenger, Alain Prost, who'd recovered to fourth after a poor start in Brazil. Riccardo Patrese was now tied on points with former Brabham team mate Nelson Piquet on six, while Gerhard Berger completed the top five. Jean Alesi and Aguri Suzuki rounded out the point scorers, as Nigel Mansell failed to score again after reliability issues, also held the advantage in the Constructors Championship after their double podium, now fourteen points ahead of (with sixteen available each weekend). were catapulted into third after Patrese's podium, while dropped to fifth. , entered through Larrousse F1 completed the scorers with Suzuki's sole point. References Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1991 Grands Prix Category:Brazilian Grand Prix Category:Formula One races in Brazil